sociology assignment cover page

How to Write a Sociology Assignment – Explained With Examples

What is a sociology assignment?

A sociology assignment is a task to find out the answer to unknown questions in society. It contributes to understanding, analyze as well to comparing, and contrasting the past, present as well as future. It helps the readers to understand society and its institutions.

As a university student, the most critical skill to learn is how to write an assignment. More than half of a student’s life goes into writing and submitting assignments. Without learning this skill, one cannot simply graduate from a university. However, we call this a skill because it has to be cultivated and learned. Therefore, to write a sociology assignment, one must learn specific skills. It is not simply writing an essay; it takes a deeper understanding and hard work to write an academic assignment. Today in this article, we will discuss how you can write a sociology assignment and ace it! 

The article will be divided into the following sections:

• Understanding the Question asked 
• Selecting the resources to add to the assignment 

To make this article more understandable, we will take a running example. Through the help of the example, we hope to provide an A to Z guidance about writing a sociology assignment. 

Understanding the Sociology Assignment Question 

The first and essential part of any assignment is to make sure that you understand the question well. Students very often lose out on marks because they fail to understand the question asked. Understanding the question in the beginning itself leaves almost no margin for silly mistakes. 

For example

The assignment given by the teacher asks you to review the following work: The viewer society. Michel Foucault’s ‘Panopticon’ revisited”, written by Thomas Mathiesen 

This question is pretty straightforward, but that doesn’t mean that it’ll be easy. The one thing you can always count on in sociology is to offer simple questions with critical answers. For the question asked above, what needs to be done is to read the mentioned article critically and then reflect on it. 

from the choices offered and read it in such a manner that you can answer all the sub-questions asked. 

Selecting the Resources 

Once you’ve understood the question, the next step is to search for resources. Your resources cannot be vague. They have to be directly related to the question that has been asked to you. Two conditions can emerge when it comes to resource research. The first condition can be that you have the exact material needed to complete the assignment. The second condition can be when you have been given a question and now have to gather material yourself. It is the second condition that is more tricky. To accumulate study material, you can refer to the following websites that are tried and tested by numerous students and scholars:

• Google Scholar
• Shodhganga 

For example: 

In our case, we already know the exact article that needs to be read in order to complete the review or reflexive assignment. 

You will read the article thoroughly and in its entirety. Since the professor has asked for a review of the paper, we will focus on targeted reading. Follow the pointers mentioned below to make the most out of your reading. 

• While you read the article, underline or highlight the important lines. You can even color-code your highlighting by using different ink colors to distinguish between arguments and examples. 
• Once you have read the article fully, write down what is the main argument of the text according to you. The main argument is that one recurring question or theme is being discussed throughout the article. 
• While reading or after reading, make a note of how and why you agree or disagree with the author. It is always recommended to judge an article by evaluating its pros and cons . 
• While reading if any new ideas or examples emerge in your mind make sure to make a note of them. This personal contribution adds to the quality of an answer. 

At this point, you are now clear with your question, and you have done the necessary reading to draft your assignment. The next step is to plan your answer. This planning happens before you sit to write your assignment. Before you attempt to write, make a rough outline. This rough outline should briefly mention what you plan to write in which section and in which order. The plan you create will only be a basic map that will guide you to write in detail. 

For example:

In this assignment, your task is to review it. You have read the article and made notes by now. Now it is your turn to form a rough template determining how you wish to proceed with your answer. You can create a template similar to this one:

• Introduction – 1 paragraph 
• The main argument made by the author along with examples offered by you to relate the writing with the reality – 4 or more paragraphs 
• Conclusion – 1 paragraph 

The planning stage can also include a timeline. You can generate a timeline for yourself where you self-appoint deadlines. When you manage your time systematically, you write better. The work done with ease and time always has more quality than the work completed at the last moment. 

Writing Sociology Assignment

All the efforts and the hard work you have done will now be applied. What is an assignment if not to convey what you have in your mind to the reader? A sociology assignment should be written in a concise and factually correct manner. Keep in mind that sociology is the scientific study of human society, and statements cannot be made lightly in passing. At this moment, you know what the question has asked. You also have designated a plan to complete the assignment. All that needs to be done now is to put all that background research into words. 

Introduction 

Start your review by giving a brief summary of what the paper really talks about. Give the reader a very broad idea about what this reading is about. In the introductory paragraph, you can leave out the finer details and focus on the main theme running across the piece of writing. Additionally, you can also provide an overview to the reader telling them what and how you plan to tackle this review. Inform the reader what to expect from this assignment. 

For example, you could write something like this:

The article by Thomas Mathiesen is a critique of Foucault’s concept of the “Panopticon”. The concept and idea of the Panopticon which Foucault borrowed from Jeremy Bentham is one of the most important concepts included in his book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Through the medium of this article, Mathiesen has shown how Panopticon is present in today’s society. He shows that Panopticon is not the only reality of the modern state like Foucault suggested, but it has grown alongside another phenomenon of “Synopticon”. The paper throughout its length aims to exhibit the developmental parallels and relationships between Panopticon and Synopticon, as well as their reciprocal functions. 

Main Body (the arguments presented by the author and the examples offered by you)

This will be the largest and the most significant portion of your answer. In this section, you have to now dwell on finer details and curate an answer that flows naturally discussing all the aspects that Mathiesen pointed out. Here you critically reflect back on what the author had to say and agree or disagree with them by providing examples from contemporary scenarios. Make sure that you divide your arguments in different paragraphs. Ideally, the Sociology Group recommends that you allocate two paragraphs to explain one argument. The first paragraph should give the summary of what the author said and the following paragraph should reflect your view of things. 

Arguments made by Mathiesen:- 

Thomas Mathiesen talks about another concept that is leading society today, Synopticism. This is also a critique of Panopticism. Mathiesen suggests that unlike what Foucault said, today we are living in a ‘viewer society’, where the many see a few. This is possible because of the ever-growing prevalence of mass media. He asserts that while talking about Panopticism, Foucault completely omitted to mention mass media even when both these functions were growing simultaneously. The reason for this, Mathiesen states, can be because if Foucault did include mass media in the analysis, then his entire argument of Panopticon would have changed (Mathiesen, 1997, 219). 

Your reflection and examples put forth:-

Today we do live in a society that is guided by surveillance. Wherever we go we are faced with different forms of surveillance, the most common of which is the use of CCTV cameras. If I talk about myself and my daily routine, it is filled with me being captured in a CCTV camera. A camera which I do not know who has access to, or who watches me. I live in a big colony which is filled with cameras. The floor on which I live has two CCTVs, there’s one in the lift, then there are cameras all over the society and even in the market area. Outside, the dominant mode of travel is the metro, which again has CCTV cameras installed after every ten steps. Foucault through his work also suggests that it is this invisible surveillance that controls our body by controlling the soul. I think this is true to a lot of extents as well. In many public places, people only subject themselves to discipline because of the threat of “being seen”. CCTVs are the biggest reason for this.

Conclusion 

This will be the final section of your assignment. A conclusion is an important section that summarizes all that you’ve written. It is similar to writing an introduction. You must include an abbreviated version of the numerous arguments and points that you have mentioned in detail above. As a result, a conclusion is a section in which you have one last chance to inform your reader of what you’ve said in your piece.

Also Check: Compare and Contrast Essay – Guide

In conclusion, I would say that this was a fairly well-written article, but it did have its own shortcomings. First of all, the concept of the Panopticon used by Foucault could have been explained in a more detailed way. For the people who do not know this theory, it gets a little generic and vague to understand what Panopticon is and how it is related to surveillance and discipline. Secondly, the section written on the use of the Internet and its significance in the Synoptic system was described very poorly. It is not justified, and its placement in the article broke the flow. Lastly, I would reiterate that this article was easy to understand for those who know what Panopticon means in the Foucauldian sense. And it was interesting to see how both the systems of Panopticon and Synopticon operate simultaneously and shape the society we live in today. 

Academic writing is impossible to complete in a single sitting. You should revise, rewrite, and reread your material several times. Do not revise your essay immediately after completing the first draft. Allow for a period of time, at least four hours. Then go back over your essay and make changes based on three criteria. The first thing you should look for is any grammatical or spelling errors. The second criterion is to examine the arguments you’ve made and whether or not the examples you’ve provided are related. The third criterion is to read the article objectively and as a reader. The more you modify, the better your results will be. However, the Sociology Group believes that your third iteration is the most important. Draft 1 is a raw version, Draft 2 is an updated version, and Draft 3 is the final version.

When you are done writing and reviewing the assignment, make sure that you add proper citations and references to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism should be avoided in any academic article. However, how can one avoid plagiarism when their essay is based on research conducted by others? Giving acknowledgment to the original author for their work is the solution. This is accomplished in academics through the Citation and Referencing processes (sometimes also called Bibliography).

There are many different styles of citations and you can determine which you want to follow. Some of the most common styles of citation and referencing are MLA, APA, and Chicago styles. If you are working on Google Docs or Word then the application makes your work easier because they help you curate your citations. 

How to add citations in Google Doc: Tools → Citation

How to add citations in Word Document: References → Insert Citations 

But for those who want to cite manually, this is the basic format to follow:

• Author’s Name with Surname mentioned first, then initials 
• Article’s Title in single or double quotes
• Journal Title in Italics 
• Volume, issue number 
• Year of Publication

Example: Syrkin, A. 1984. “Notes on the Buddha’s Threats in the Dīgha Nikāya ”, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies , vol. 7(1), pp.147-58.

Also Read: Meet the Professor – An Insightful Interview Series

Hello! Eiti is a budding sociologist whose passion lies in reading, researching, and writing. She thrives on coffee, to-do lists, deadlines, and organization. Eiti's primary interest areas encompass food, gender, and academia.

MS Word Cover Page Templates

Download, personalize & print, social study assignment cover pages.

Posted By: admin 24/11/2018

The students are required to design the social studies assignment cover page when they have to submit the assignment of social studies. The subject of social studies is based on a study of different factors which require the student to use logic and research techniques to gather information. For many students, the cover page is as important as the assignment itself.

Although it is not mandatory to use the cover page, some institutes demand the students add the cover page. Whether it is asked by the teacher to add the cover page or not, it is always recommended to add it.

Why it is important to add the cover page to an assignment?

Writing an assignment is a tedious task for many students. Students spend so much time in preparing the assignment that sometimes they have to rush through the assignment to ensure that it is submitted before the deadline. In doing so, many students forget to add the details on the assignment which is necessary for a teacher to identify who has submitted the assignment.

The use of cover page ensures that the student does not forget adding any detail needed by the instructor.

Social studies assignments cover pages template:

We have provided different cover pages template on this website in different designs. These templates provide different designs which cover almost every topic of social studies. All these templates include the space for adding important details such as the title of the assignment, student’s name, roll number, etc.

The cover page below is designed with velvety navy blue and gold color. The velvety navy blue color represents self-assurance. The gold color symbolizes perception. The first half of the page is designed with a geometric pattern of triangles. An image of book reading is placed in it. This all looks very striking. The heading is positioned at the top with bold font. Then, a headline text is placed. A short summary of the whole assignment is placed down. The edition is positioned at the right bottom. The cover page can be chosen for the topics of social sciences in social studies.

Cover page format: MS Word 2007 | 2010 | 2013 File Size: 2 MB License: [Only for personal use] Download

The cover page shown below is quite energetic due to its color contrast. The candy color expresses the strength of the mind. The plum and periwinkle color shows decorum. The abstract pattern is adding much to the gleam to the page. The image of a book and a keyboard is showing that it is an assignment cover page. The right side is positioned with all the text which includes a heading, headline, a short statement, and edition. This cover page can be used for the topics of humanities in social studies.

Cover page format: MS Word 2007 | 2010 | 2013 File Size: 979 KB License: [Only for personal use] Download

The page shown as follows has a contrast of ocean teal and emerald color. The ocean teal color shows open communication. The emerald color symbolizes balance. A mild image in the grey color shows level-headedness. The title is placed at the top. The edition is placed in the abstract shaped patterns in the middle. The headline is written in the left bottom. According to the theme, it works well for the history related topics of social studies.

Cover page format: MS Word 2007 | 2010 | 2013 File Size: 3 MB License: [Only for personal use] Download

The cover page as follows is very colorful and pleasing to the eyes. The page is designed with multicolored abstract vector stripes. Different colors like cerulean, candy, gold and teal are used. These colors collectively represent the aim, strength, and positivity. The clipart of books and laptop symbolize meaningfulness. The headline and some summarized points are placed in the middle right. The edition year and title are positioned at the bottom. This theme is very appropriate and it works best for all the assignment topics of social studies.

Cover page format: MS Word 2007 | 2010 | 2013 File Size: 698 KB License: [Only for personal use] Download

The assignment cover page shown below has a multi-axis image. A blend of canary, gold, syrup and gingerbread color is used. The canary and gold color demonstrate courage. The headline is positioned at the top. Then, the edition year is placed. The bottom contains the headlines and brief notes. This cover page works well for the topics national and current affairs in social studies.

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• Basics for GSIs
• Advancing Your Skills

Sociology 190 Research Assignment

by Sarah Macdonald, Sociology

Context Assignment 1: Paper Proposal Assignment 2: Literature Review Assignment 3: Abstract and Outline Assignment 4: Research Presentation Assignment 5: Final Paper

Sociology 190 is a senior capstone course in which students engage in small seminar discussions of a particular topic. In my section of Soc 190, Transnational Adoption from a Sociological Perspective , I paired in-depth discussions on the topic of adoption with a semester-long research project — each student designed a research question, collected data, and wrote up a 15–20-page research paper on a topic of their choice. I knew that because the research paper seemed overwhelming to my students, they would need guidance and feedback throughout the process. In designing my syllabus and assignments I consulted with syllabi from others in my department that had previously taught similar courses. The resulting assignments are included in this section.

In the process of setting the assignments I learned that students needed very explicit instructions on the format of a formal research paper, the opportunity to discuss their progress frequently in class, and structured opportunities to learn about how to do sociological research. Throughout the semester we had discussions, both as a large group and in smaller groups, about the students’ progress on their projects, which allowed students a chance to receive feedback more often than I was able to give in writing. We also had several formal opportunities to learn about research, for example when I gave presentations to the students on research methods, or when we had a guest speaker talk about their research, or when students had a session with a subject-specific librarian to learn about how to locate secondary sources. Each assignment then served as a research milestone where students got formal feedback from me about their progress. Before each assignment we had in-depth discussions of how to formulate the different components of a research paper, so the assignments include detailed lists of the parts we had already discussed in class. We ended the semester with a mini research conference where students presented their arguments to their peers and received feedback. They then used this feedback and my feedback on the smaller assignments to produce their final research papers.

Assignment 1: Paper Proposal

Paper proposal.

In no more than 2 double-spaced pages (Times New Roman, size 12 font, one-inch margins) you will:

• Briefly describe and explain your research topic and its importance. You should describe why you think this topic is particularly relevant to our course and why it is an important area of study.
• Clearly present and explain your central research question.
• Identify your data source and method of analysis. How will you collect data and what will you do with the data?
• Explain why these sources of data are appropriate for your research question and how they will help you to answer your question.

Choosing a Research Topic and Question

Your research topic and question must relate to the topic of transnational adoption, but beyond this requirement there are no limitations on the topic that you choose. I recommend that you look through the topics in the syllabus to help you to begin to determine what you are most interested in studying. In addition, the reading entitled “International Adoption: A Sociological Account of the US Experience” (Engel et al., 2007) [1] , should help you to understand the various topics related to transnational adoption that are of particular concern to sociologists.

Choosing a Data Source

Once you have identified your research question, you must choose one of the research methods listed below that will be most appropriate for answering your question.

• In-depth Interviews : You must conduct 3 to 5 in-depth interviews (lasting at least 45 minutes each) with individuals.
• Textual Analysis : You can choose to analyze a set of written or visual texts (books, newspaper articles, news stories, images, films, court documents, government proceedings, etc.). You must choose at least three texts to analyze and may need to choose several texts depending on the types of texts you are analyzing.
• Participant Observation : Spend 5 to 10 hours observing social interaction at a relevant research site. If you decide to do this you must get advance permission from the organization and/or individuals before conducting your observation.
• Quantitative Analysis : You can complete a basic statistical analysis of a data set. You can either use an existing data set or design your own survey and distribute it to at least 30 people to create your own dataset.

[1] Engel, Madeline, Norma K. Phillips, and Frances A. Dellacava (2007). “International Adoption: A Sociological Account of the US Experience.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 27: 257–270.

Assignment 2: Literature Review

For this assignment you will submit a review of current literature on your topic that will:

• Summarize and synthesize 5 to 10 sources (books or journal articles, not websites or news stories) that are not included in course readings. This means that you should not simply provide summaries of the sources, but should explain how they relate to each other (synthesize how they draw on similar theories, come to similar conclusions, etc.) and/or offer a critique of their content that is relevant to your own research. You may also choose to cite course readings; in fact, I encourage you to do so, but you must cite at least 5 additional sources.
• Explain how your research project is likely to challenge, confirm, complicate, or contribute to existing work on your topic. You must make an argument for what your research will add to literature that already exists on the topic.

The literature review should be 4 to 5 double-spaced pages, size 12 Times New Roman font, one-inch margins.

Additional tips for writing your literature review:

• Do not just choose the first 5 sources that you find; make sure that they are relevant to your research question and topic.
• Think about the literature review as a window into a conversation between researchers about your topic. You’ll want to explain what they have already found out about the topic and then you’ll want to make a strong case for how your research is adding to the conversation.
• Keep your summaries of the articles or books concise and relevant. You don’t need to summarize their entire argument, you just need to give us an idea of what parts are particularly pertinent to your own research.
• The format of your literature review should not just be a list of summaries. Instead you will want to identify some way in which the previous literature has fallen short and has not considered the question that you are interested in studying. This takes quite a bit of work in most cases and will mean that you will have to explain clearly how your research will challenge, confirm, complicate, or contribute to existing work on the topic.
• Edit, edit, edit. You should spend a fair amount of time putting this together and editing as much as possible. If you do a really good job on this portion, it’s likely you’ll be able to paste it into your final paper with minimal changes! Take it very seriously.
• You must use the American Sociological Association’s Style Guide to format your citations. If you use Zotero, it will do it for you automatically. Make sure your in-text citations are also properly formatted. The ASA Style Guide is posted on our course site.

Assignment 3: Abstract and Outline

Part one: abstract.

For this assignment you will write an abstract of no more than 500 words that details the argument you will make in your final paper. The abstract should have the following components:

• Research Question:  1 or 2 sentences describing your topic or research question; this doesn’t need to be in question form.
• Contribution: A statement that explains what empirical or theoretical contribution your research makes to existing literature.
• Methods and Data: An explanation of no more than 1 sentence that explains your methods, i.e., how you collected data to answer your research question.
• Findings: A few sentences that describe the main argument you will make in your paper and what you found as a result of doing your research. It is okay if you haven’t yet finished your research and these findings are only preliminary.
• Concluding Statement/Implications: You will want to include at least 1 sentence that connects back to the problem that you identified at the beginning and that explains any important implications of your research.

Note: The abstract should not include any citations.

Grading: Your grade will be based on the organization and coherence of your writing, the inclusion of all aspects detailed above, and especially on the clarity, feasibility, and appropriateness of the argument that you plan to make in your final paper.

Part Two: Paper Outline

For this assignment you will write an outline of your final paper that details each of the sections of the paper and the overall argument that you will make in each section. The outline can be as long as you would like, but cannot exceed 5 single-spaced pages, size 12 font, one-inch margins. I recommend that you include as much detail as possible as this will be your last formal opportunity to receive feedback from me.

Please label all sections. For each section you will include a brief paragraph (2–3 sentences) that outlines what you will argue/explain in that section. Then you will outline each paragraph or part of that section (please use the numerical outlining function in Word; you may also use bullet points where necessary). The outline should be as detailed as possible and should include quotations, examples from your research, data that supports your points, etc. You should include the following sections:

• Abstract: A revised abstract for the paper that is no longer than 250 words. This means you may have to substantially cut down the abstract that you handed in for the previous assignment.
• Introduction: This section should contain the argument you will make in the paper, your specific research question, any background necessary for the reader, and a short introductory explanation of why your topic is sociologically relevant and interesting and how it contributes to existing literature.
• Literature Review: This section should contain a summary and synthesis of existing research related to your topic and an explanation of how your topic contributes to existing research, either theoretically or empirically.
• Methods: This section will describe the research method(s) you used to answer your question and why the method(s) was (were) appropriate for helping you to answer your research question. You should include the specifics of what exactly you did, for example: How many people did you interview? How many surveys did you post? How many people responded? How did you contact the people that were included in your study? If you did textual analysis, how did you select the texts that you analyzed? Why? How did you go about analyzing them? Include as much detail as possible.
• Findings: This is the section where you will make the central argument of your paper. You will explain the answer to your research question. If you are making your argument in several parts or sections, make sure to include those sections in the outline. The outline for the findings section should show me, in a very detailed way, what the argument is that you are making and how you expect to make the argument. It should include support from your research (quotes, percentages, or whatever other type of data you will use to support your argument).
• Discussion and Conclusion: In this section you will summarize the argument that you make in the paper and you will reiterate how your findings confirmed or challenged (or both) the findings from the research that you outlined in the literature review. You will explain how your findings contribute to existing literature. You may also suggest questions that still need to be answered and suggestions for further research that should be done on your topic.

Assignment 4: Research Presentation

For this assignment you will prepare a very brief presentation of your research for the class. The purposes of this assignment are: a) to learn about the research that students have done as part of this class, b) to have the opportunity to give feedback and suggestions to other students, c) to discuss several topics related to transnational adoption using the foundational knowledge you have gained this semester.

Guidelines for your presentation:

• Your presentation should be about 5 minutes . Please practice ahead of time so that you can make sure that you can fit what you want to say in this time period.
• You should briefly explain your research question, your method, and your most interesting finding. In your presentation you should make some connection back to the topics and/or readings that we have discussed in this class — you can either connect your finding to course material or explain how your research contributes to the literature we have read together as part of this course.
• After your presentation the class will ask questions of you and your panel. Please come prepared to talk in depth about your research and to answer questions about the research process, your findings, how the findings relate to the course, what contribution you are making to the existing literature on your topic, etc.

Grading: You will be graded on your ability to clearly and concisely present your research, the connections that you make between your research and course material, and your engagement in a discussion about your topic with other students in the class during the Q&A period.

Assignment 5: Final Paper

For this assignment you will draw on the research proposal, literature review, abstract, paper outline, and the data you have collected through your research to write a polished research paper on your topic. The paper must be 15–20 pages, size 12 Times New Roman font, one-inch margins. Please note that your bibliography/works cited and any appendices you choose to include will not be counted in the 15-page minimum.

Required Components for the Final Paper:

Please make sure to label each section with either a section title (e.g., literature review) or a title that communicates the content of the section (e.g., previous research on culture keeping).

• Cover Page: The first page of your paper should be a cover sheet that includes a title that communicates the content of your paper, your name, date, title of the class, and any other information you feel is necessary.
• Abstract (∼250 words): A revised abstract for the paper that is no longer than 250 words. This means you may have to substantially cut down the abstract that you handed in for the previous assignment. It should be single-spaced and should be placed immediately preceding the introduction.
• Introduction (1 – 3 pages): This section should contain the argument you will make in the paper, your specific research question, any background necessary for the reader (e.g., historical context), and a short introductory explanation of why your topic is sociologically relevant and interesting, and how it contributes to existing literature.
• Literature Review (4–6 pages): This section should contain a summary and synthesis of existing research related to your topic and an explanation of how your topic contributes to existing research, either theoretically or empirically.
• Methods (1–2 pages): This section will describe the research method(s) you used to answer your question and why the method(s) was (were) appropriate for helping you to answer your research question. You should include the specifics of what exactly you did, for example: How many people did you interview? How many surveys did you post? How many people responded? How did you contact the people that were included in your study? If you did textual analysis, how did you select the texts that you analyzed? Why? How did you go about analyzing them? Include as much detail as possible. You should also explain why your sample is likely not representative of the general population you are studying and what biases are present as a result of your research design.
• Findings (7+ pages): This is the section where you will make the central argument of your paper. You will explain the answer to your research question. It should include support from your research (quotes, percentages, or whatever other type of data you will use to support your argument). You may choose to divide this section into sub-sections, but each sub-section should have a clear title. Make sure that you are making an argument and that each paragraph in this section connects back to your central argument.
• Discussion and Conclusion (2+ pages): In this section you will summarize the argument that you have made in the paper and you will reiterate how your findings confirmed or challenged (or both) the findings from the research that you outlined in the literature review. You will explain how your findings contribute to existing literature. You may also suggest questions that still need to be answered and suggestions for further research that should be done on your topic.
• Appendices: If you did interviews or a survey you must include an appendix with your questions. You should refer to the appendix in the methods section. You can also include appendices with additional information (e.g., coding, statistics) if you feel that it is necessary. The appendices do not count in the page count.
• Bibliography/Citations: Remember that you must cite at least ten sources in your paper. While many of these will likely be in the literature review, you should also cite where necessary in the other sections of the paper. At least 5 sources must come from readings that were not included in the course syllabus. All parenthetical citations and the works cited/bibliography page must be in ASA format. Formatting instructions are posted on our course website.

In writing this paper please make sure to look back over your previous assignments at my comments and to incorporate changes into your final paper. You are welcome to use any part of your previous assignments verbatim, but I urge you to edit carefully. This paper should be a polished, final paper and not a draft. This means that you will need to finish the paper in advance of the deadline to allow ample time for editing.

What this handout is about

This handout introduces you to the wonderful world of writing sociology. Before you can write a clear and coherent sociology paper, you need a firm understanding of the assumptions and expectations of the discipline. You need to know your audience, the way they view the world and how they order and evaluate information. So, without further ado, let’s figure out just what sociology is, and how one goes about writing it.

What is sociology, and what do sociologists write about?

Unlike many of the other subjects here at UNC, such as history or English, sociology is a new subject for many students. Therefore, it may be helpful to give a quick introduction to what sociologists do. Sociologists are interested in all sorts of topics. For example, some sociologists focus on the family, addressing issues such as marriage, divorce, child-rearing, and domestic abuse, the ways these things are defined in different cultures and times, and their effect on both individuals and institutions. Others examine larger social organizations such as businesses and governments, looking at their structure and hierarchies. Still others focus on social movements and political protest, such as the American civil rights movement. Finally, sociologists may look at divisions and inequality within society, examining phenomena such as race, gender, and class, and their effect on people’s choices and opportunities. As you can see, sociologists study just about everything. Thus, it is not the subject matter that makes a paper sociological, but rather the perspective used in writing it.

So, just what is a sociological perspective? At its most basic, sociology is an attempt to understand and explain the way that individuals and groups interact within a society. How exactly does one approach this goal? C. Wright Mills, in his book The Sociological Imagination (1959), writes that “neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” Why? Well, as Karl Marx observes at the beginning of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852), humans “make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past.” Thus, a good sociological argument needs to balance both individual agency and structural constraints. That is certainly a tall order, but it is the basis of all effective sociological writing. Keep it in mind as you think about your own writing.

Key assumptions and characteristics of sociological writing

What are the most important things to keep in mind as you write in sociology? Pay special attention to the following issues.

The first thing to remember in writing a sociological argument is to be as clear as possible in stating your thesis. Of course, that is true in all papers, but there are a couple of pitfalls common to sociology that you should be aware of and avoid at all cost. As previously defined, sociology is the study of the interaction between individuals and larger social forces. Different traditions within sociology tend to favor one side of the equation over the other, with some focusing on the agency of individual actors and others on structural factors. The danger is that you may go too far in either of these directions and thus lose the complexity of sociological thinking. Although this mistake can manifest itself in any number of ways, three types of flawed arguments are particularly common: 

• The “ individual argument ” generally takes this form: “The individual is free to make choices, and any outcomes can be explained exclusively through the study of their ideas and decisions.” While it is of course true that we all make our own choices, we must also keep in mind that, to paraphrase Marx, we make these choices under circumstances given to us by the structures of society. Therefore, it is important to investigate what conditions made these choices possible in the first place, as well as what allows some individuals to successfully act on their choices while others cannot.
• The “ human nature argument ” seeks to explain social behavior through a quasi-biological argument about humans, and often takes a form such as: “Humans are by nature X, therefore it is not surprising that Y.” While sociologists disagree over whether a universal human nature even exists, they all agree that it is not an acceptable basis of explanation. Instead, sociology demands that you question why we call some behavior natural, and to look into the social factors which have constructed this “natural” state.
• The “ society argument ” often arises in response to critiques of the above styles of argumentation, and tends to appear in a form such as: “Society made me do it.” Students often think that this is a good sociological argument, since it uses society as the basis for explanation. However, the problem is that the use of the broad concept “society” masks the real workings of the situation, making it next to impossible to build a strong case. This is an example of reification, which is when we turn processes into things. Society is really a process, made up of ongoing interactions at multiple levels of size and complexity, and to turn it into a monolithic thing is to lose all that complexity. People make decisions and choices. Some groups and individuals benefit, while others do not. Identifying these intermediate levels is the basis of sociological analysis.

Although each of these three arguments seems quite different, they all share one common feature: they assume exactly what they need to be explaining. They are excellent starting points, but lousy conclusions.

Once you have developed a working argument, you will next need to find evidence to support your claim. What counts as evidence in a sociology paper? First and foremost, sociology is an empirical discipline. Empiricism in sociology means basing your conclusions on evidence that is documented and collected with as much rigor as possible. This evidence usually draws upon observed patterns and information from collected cases and experiences, not just from isolated, anecdotal reports. Just because your second cousin was able to climb the ladder from poverty to the executive boardroom does not prove that the American class system is open. You will need more systematic evidence to make your claim convincing. Above all else, remember that your opinion alone is not sufficient support for a sociological argument. Even if you are making a theoretical argument, you must be able to point to documented instances of social phenomena that fit your argument. Logic is necessary for making the argument, but is not sufficient support by itself.

Sociological evidence falls into two main groups: 

• Quantitative data are based on surveys, censuses, and statistics. These provide large numbers of data points, which is particularly useful for studying large-scale social processes, such as income inequality, population changes, changes in social attitudes, etc.
• Qualitative data, on the other hand, comes from participant observation, in-depth interviews, data and texts, as well as from the researcher’s own impressions and reactions. Qualitative research gives insight into the way people actively construct and find meaning in their world.

Quantitative data produces a measurement of subjects’ characteristics and behavior, while qualitative research generates information on their meanings and practices. Thus, the methods you choose will reflect the type of evidence most appropriate to the questions you ask. If you wanted to look at the importance of race in an organization, a quantitative study might use information on the percentage of different races in the organization, what positions they hold, as well as survey results on people’s attitudes on race. This would measure the distribution of race and racial beliefs in the organization. A qualitative study would go about this differently, perhaps hanging around the office studying people’s interactions, or doing in-depth interviews with some of the subjects. The qualitative researcher would see how people act out their beliefs, and how these beliefs interact with the beliefs of others as well as the constraints of the organization.

Some sociologists favor qualitative over quantitative data, or vice versa, and it is perfectly reasonable to rely on only one method in your own work. However, since each method has its own strengths and weaknesses, combining methods can be a particularly effective way to bolster your argument. But these distinctions are not just important if you have to collect your own data for your paper. You also need to be aware of them even when you are relying on secondary sources for your research. In order to critically evaluate the research and data you are reading, you should have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods.

Units of analysis

Given that social life is so complex, you need to have a point of entry into studying this world. In sociological jargon, you need a unit of analysis. The unit of analysis is exactly that: it is the unit that you have chosen to analyze in your study. Again, this is only a question of emphasis and focus, and not of precedence and importance. You will find a variety of units of analysis in sociological writing, ranging from the individual up to groups or organizations. You should choose yours based on the interests and theoretical assumptions driving your research. The unit of analysis will determine much of what will qualify as relevant evidence in your work. Thus you must not only clearly identify that unit, but also consistently use it throughout your paper.

Let’s look at an example to see just how changing the units of analysis will change the face of research. What if you wanted to study globalization? That’s a big topic, so you will need to focus your attention. Where would you start?

You might focus on individual human actors, studying the way that people are affected by the globalizing world. This approach could possibly include a study of Asian sweatshop workers’ experiences, or perhaps how consumers’ decisions shape the overall system.

Or you might choose to focus on social structures or organizations. This approach might involve looking at the decisions being made at the national or international level, such as the free-trade agreements that change the relationships between governments and corporations. Or you might look into the organizational structures of corporations and measure how they are changing under globalization. Another structural approach would be to focus on the social networks linking subjects together. That could lead you to look at how migrants rely on social contacts to make their way to other countries, as well as to help them find work upon their arrival.

Finally, you might want to focus on cultural objects or social artifacts as your unit of analysis. One fine example would be to look at the production of those tennis shoes the kids seem to like so much. You could look at either the material production of the shoe (tracing it from its sweatshop origins to its arrival on the showroom floor of malls across America) or its cultural production (attempting to understand how advertising and celebrities have turned such shoes into necessities and cultural icons).

Whichever unit of analysis you choose, be careful not to commit the dreaded ecological fallacy. An ecological fallacy is when you assume that something that you learned about the group level of analysis also applies to the individuals that make up that group. So, to continue the globalization example, if you were to compare its effects on the poorest 20% and the richest 20% of countries, you would need to be careful not to apply your results to the poorest and richest individuals.

These are just general examples of how sociological study of a single topic can vary. Because you can approach a subject from several different perspectives, it is important to decide early how you plan to focus your analysis and then stick with that perspective throughout your paper. Avoid mixing units of analysis without strong justification. Different units of analysis generally demand different kinds of evidence for building your argument. You can reconcile the varying levels of analysis, but doing so may require a complex, sophisticated theory, no small feat within the confines of a short paper. Check with your instructor if you are concerned about this happening in your paper.

Typical writing assignments in sociology

So how does all of this apply to an actual writing assignment? Undergraduate writing assignments in sociology may take a number of forms, but they typically involve reviewing sociological literature on a subject; applying or testing a particular concept, theory, or perspective; or producing a small-scale research report, which usually involves a synthesis of both the literature review and application.

The critical review

The review involves investigating the research that has been done on a particular topic and then summarizing and evaluating what you have found. The important task in this kind of assignment is to organize your material clearly and synthesize it for your reader. A good review does not just summarize the literature, but looks for patterns and connections in the literature and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of what others have written on your topic. You want to help your reader see how the information you have gathered fits together, what information can be most trusted (and why), what implications you can derive from it, and what further research may need to be done to fill in gaps. Doing so requires considerable thought and organization on your part, as well as thinking of yourself as an expert on the topic. You need to assume that, even though you are new to the material, you can judge the merits of the arguments you have read and offer an informed opinion of which evidence is strongest and why.

Application or testing of a theory or concept

The application assignment asks you to apply a concept or theoretical perspective to a specific example. In other words, it tests your practical understanding of theories and ideas by asking you to explain how well they apply to actual social phenomena. In order to successfully apply a theory to a new case, you must include the following steps:

• First you need to have a very clear understanding of the theory itself: not only what the theorist argues, but also why they argue that point, and how they justify it. That is, you have to understand how the world works according to this theory and how one thing leads to another.
• Next you should choose an appropriate case study. This is a crucial step, one that can make or break your paper. If you choose a case that is too similar to the one used in constructing the theory in the first place, then your paper will be uninteresting as an application, since it will not give you the opportunity to show off your theoretical brilliance. On the other hand, do not choose a case that is so far out in left field that the applicability is only superficial and trivial. In some ways theory application is like making an analogy. The last thing you want is a weak analogy, or one that is so obvious that it does not give any added insight. Instead, you will want to choose a happy medium, one that is not obvious but that allows you to give a developed analysis of the case using the theory you chose.
• This leads to the last point, which is the analysis. A strong analysis will go beyond the surface and explore the processes at work, both in the theory and in the case you have chosen. Just like making an analogy, you are arguing that these two things (the theory and the example) are similar. Be specific and detailed in telling the reader how they are similar. In the course of looking for similarities, however, you are likely to find points at which the theory does not seem to be a good fit. Do not sweep this discovery under the rug, since the differences can be just as important as the similarities, supplying insight into both the applicability of the theory and the uniqueness of the case you are using.

You may also be asked to test a theory. Whereas the application paper assumes that the theory you are using is true, the testing paper does not makes this assumption, but rather asks you to try out the theory to determine whether it works. Here you need to think about what initial conditions inform the theory and what sort of hypothesis or prediction the theory would make based on those conditions. This is another way of saying that you need to determine which cases the theory could be applied to (see above) and what sort of evidence would be needed to either confirm or disconfirm the theory’s hypothesis. In many ways, this is similar to the application paper, with added emphasis on the veracity of the theory being used.

The research paper

Finally, we reach the mighty research paper. Although the thought of doing a research paper can be intimidating, it is actually little more than the combination of many of the parts of the papers we have already discussed. You will begin with a critical review of the literature and use this review as a basis for forming your research question. The question will often take the form of an application (“These ideas will help us to explain Z.”) or of hypothesis testing (“If these ideas are correct, we should find X when we investigate Y.”). The skills you have already used in writing the other types of papers will help you immensely as you write your research papers.

And so we reach the end of this all-too-brief glimpse into the world of sociological writing. Sociologists can be an idiosyncratic bunch, so paper guidelines and expectations will no doubt vary from class to class, from instructor to instructor. However, these basic guidelines will help you get started.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Cuba, Lee. 2002. A Short Guide to Writing About Social Science , 4th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2003. The Allyn & Bacon Handbook , 5th ed. New York: Longman.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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• More Resources

This collection contains resources that are useful for teaching sociology on the high school level. It includes resources that were submitted by high school instructors, as well as 100-level college material that is easily adaptable for high school students. In 2022, ASA assembled a workshop with high school sociology teachers and sociology professors to develop resources specifically for a new “High School Sociology Toolkit.” These lessons and acitvities coincide with the four learning domains found in the National Standards for High School Sociology .  The resources created from that workshop are also included in this collection and are titled with the prefix, "High School Workshop Toolkit."

This is a sample syllabus for a high school sociology class. It contains grading requirements and procedures, a full course schedule, and project instructions.

This interactive lesson introduces students to the concepts of ethnocentrism, cultural relativity, and cultural discontinuity using the parenting of babies as a case study.

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Department of Sociology

• Common Paper Assignments
• Student Writing Guide

As a sociology major, you will complete a variety of writing assignments to demonstrate your knowledge and research skills, your ability to apply and synthesize abstract concepts and theories, or even show your critical thinking skills. Below is a brief description of the types of paper assignments that are common across the sociological discipline. Of course, your instructors may have other ideas of how you should demonstrate your writing abilities, but these assignments will certainly show up sooner or later in your academic career. ( Writing tips for thesis statements)

Critical Thinking/Social Issue Paper

Probably the most common paper you will be asked to write as a sociology student will require you to examine a specific social issue in which you have to consider the social, political, or economic forces that contribute to or influence theis issue. An instructor may ask you to apply a certain concept or theory, or even take a position and provide supporting evidence. It may also require critiquing a position. Regardless of the topic or directions, instructors will use this assignment to evaluate your  critical thinking  skills.

The Literature Review (a/k/a the Term Paper)

This specific approach to writing usually entails two tasks: (1) identifying a research question or topic of interest and (2) conducting library and/or Internet research to locate scholarly research articles, books, or Internet materials that address the topic selected. This paper is not a mere listing of research findings, but a synthesis of materials to develop a new way of thinking about a topic or suggests directions for further inquiry (see Giarrusso et al., A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers [2008]). This assignment will also require you to use an appropriate citation and reference style; you can check out our suggestions in the Writer's Guide.However, always follow the instructor's suggestions for citation styles. You can find examples of this type of writing in:

• Literature Review using APA Style Citations
• Literature Review examples from Students  (PDF)
• The Process of Writing a Literature Review  (provided by Dr. Cameron Lippard) (PDF)

The Research Paper/Project

Like the literature review paper, you will be required to select a research question or topic and conduct library and/or Internet research regarding scholarly work. However, you will go one step further and conduct your own original research on the topic. This is where you will do what most scientists do: formulate and test hypotheses, use research methods to collect data, complete a quantitative or qualitative analysis of the data collected, and provide conclusions that link your data to the theoretical arguments you discussed in your literature review. In general, this paper will include the following sections: (a) Introduction, (b) Literature Review, (c) Methods Description, (d) Results (data analysis section), (e) Discussions and Conclusions, and (f) References. Usually you will complete a paper like this during your Research Methods and/or Senior Seminar courses. Finally, just like the literature review paper, you will have to use an established citation and reference style. The links below, to already published papers, are good examples of how to do this.

• Determining What Works for Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: A Summary of Evaluation Evidence  (PDF)
• Judging Women and Defining Crime: Police Officers' Attitudes Toward Women and Rape  (PDF)

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Writing Guide

Writing sociological topics.

“Sociology is the scientific study of human social life. Sociologists seek to describe social patterns and to develop theories for explanation and prediction of social processes of all sizes. Sociology applies objective and systematic methods of investigation to identify patterns and forms of social life and to understand the processes of development and change in human societies.”

Sociology can be described as the scientific study of society.

Sociologists follow the scientific method in research and translate that research into language that is applicable to diverse audiences.

Even if you don’t plan on becoming a sociologist, learning to communicate in the writing and oral styles that are specific to sociology can be useful in many professions. Even though sociological writing is presenting research about the social world, which we all live in and experience that does not mean that the sociological style of writing will come naturally.

Whether you’re writing a “low-stakes” summary of assigned readings, or a “high-stakes” research proposal, there are stylistic rules specific to sociology that need to be followed. This writing guide aims to help students in sociology courses understand these guidelines and improve their sociological writing.

Departmental Expectations

• Enable students to understand the interactions among individuals, groups, and social institutions in society.
• Develop student competence in understanding, critically assessing, and applying major sociological concepts.
• Introduce students to the various theoretical perspectives of sociology.
• Develop student understanding of research methods appropriate to sociological inquiry.
• Develop student competence in posing research questions, evaluating evidence, and developing logical arguments.

Disciplinary Genres

Writing in sociology can be either argumentative or analytical. Too often, students in sociology try to find the “right” answer, rather than taking a stance on the literature.

There are various writing genres within sociology. These genres include, but are not limited to: social issue analyses, article critiques, literature reviews, quantitative research designs, quantitative research papers, qualitative research designs, and qualitative research papers. Common types of writing in sociology classes at UNC Charlotte include summaries of readings, topic essays, literature reviews, methodological designs, and research proposals.

For these writing assignments, you will be asked to analyze and critique previous research or make an argument for proposed research, or both. While the exact style of writing will vary by assignment, and by professor, the writing norms of sociology will always apply.

Writing and Speaking Norms in Sociology

The learning objectives for sociology courses can be reached through communicating in a way that is appropriate to the field of Sociology. As a student in Sociology, you will regularly engage in various types of writing.

As is the case in other academic disciplines, sociologists have developed a style of writing that is most appropriate. The American Sociological Association style guide presents the fundamentals of sociological writing.

Following these guidelines, writing in sociology should be:

• Clear in expression, with respect to ideas and structure
• Concise and coherent, avoiding wordy phrases
• Absent of language reflecting bias or stereotypes
• Using an active voice
• Use verb tense that is consistent within a section
• Proper citations, using American Sociological Association (ASA) guidelines

Examples of Common Assignments

The sociology department, as well as all departments at UNC Charlotte, incorporates low-stakes, medium-stakes, and high-stakes writing into the curriculum. It is not uncommon for sociology courses to assign written work from all of these levels.

Low-stakes assignments serve as a means for input: exploration, discovery, hypothesizing, problem-solving, and so on. Think of these assignments as “writing to learn”. Below are some examples of low-stakes assignments commonly used in sociology courses.

• Brief in-class writing assignments on course topics.
• Summaries of assigned readings.
• Creating a hypothesis.
• Brief, or list-like, writings about a topic.

Medium Stakes

Medium-stakes assignments focus on certain thinking processes within the discipline. These assignments are still primarily informal but require more guidelines for format, structure, and style that are appropriate to sociology . These assignments are typically done in one sitting and do not require extensive revision. Below are some examples of medium-stakes assignments commonly used in sociology courses.

• Response papers on lecture or other course materials that incorporate sociological perspectives.
• Wiki contributions, blog posts, discussion board posts.
• Reflection papers on personal experiences.
• Analyses of current issues or events.

High Stakes

High-stakes assignments are easily recognizable. These assignments incorporate analysis, argumentation, or both to a broad range of concepts or readings. High-stakes writing assignments are subject to several revisions and follow more closely the style guidelines of sociology. Below are some common high-stakes writing assignments in sociology:

• Research proposal or research report.
• Written report on qualitative or quantitative research done by the student.
• Final papers that integrate the entirety of course topics.

Here’s an example of a high-stakes research proposal with instructor comments.

Writing Outcomes

Listed at the bottom of this page in the attachments section is an example of a survey research paper done by a UNC Charlotte student as well as the rubric the instructor utilized for grading purposes.

Below are several tools and tips to help you communicate effectively in sociology.

General Advice for Non-Majors will help students not familiar with writing in sociology.

ASA Style Guide will provide examples of the writing and speaking norms in sociology, as well as show how to properly cite resources.

This Reading Guide will help students learn how to approach sociological literature.

The Writing Resource Center at UNC Charlotte provides writing services to students.

Citation Guide will help you make sure that all of your resources are properly cited.

List of ASA (American Sociological Association) Writing Style Guides

The University Center for Academic Excellence (UCAE) provides academic support for UNC Charlotte students.

The Dr. Abel Scribe citation tool is another useful guide for learning about the ASA’s formatting rules as well as its citation guidelines.

Endnote – Citation software program available to UNC Charlotte students.

Marquette University’s Writing Guide for Social Science Majors

University of California, Berkeley’s Writing Guide for Sociology Majors

These sections adapted from:

American Sociological Association. 2010. American Sociological Association Style Guide. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.

Bean, John C. 2001. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Darmouth Institute for Writing and Rhetoric “General Advice for Non-Majors” accessed 2013.

Harris, Angelique and Alia R. Tyner-Mullings. 2013. Writing for Emerging Sociologists. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications

Johnson, William A. et al. 2004. The Sociology Student Writer’s Manual. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

UNC Charlotte Department of Sociology “Home” section accessed 2013.

An introduction to writing of assignments in sociology

On this page you will find information about use of sources and some general tips for writing assignments in sociology.

This guide is compiled by PhD Candidate Eivind Grip Fjær.

You can download the entire page as a booklet in pdf-format .

Planning the assignment

1. introduction, 2. background, 3. discussion, 4. conclusion, tips for the writing process, 1. work on the structure, 2. work on the text, 3. words and terms, use of sources, 1. citations, 2. references in the text, 3. the list of references, 4. what not to do with your references, 5. plagiarism, tips for books on academic writing.

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Faculty Resources

Assignments and discussions.

Assignment prompts are provided with this course for instructors to use at their discretion. Since they are openly licensed, instructors may use them as is or to adapt to better fit the class’s focus, time frame and learning outcomes.

Assignments may be delivered pre-populated in your LMS assignment tool in your LMS course shell, where you may modify or delete them as you wish. The recommended expectation for the discussion assignments is that students should do their initial post first before seeing replies from other students (This is generally an option faculty need to select once inside the LMS and looks like “Participants must create a thread in order to view other threads in this forum.” or “Users must post before seeing replies”).

We do NOT recommend assigning every discussion and assignment , as some are large and time-consuming or may not fit well with your course schedule. Some marked as “larger assignments” could be introduced in earlier modules or split into several parts.

If you would like to include your own assignments or have recommendations for additions or modifications, you are invited to contribute! If you would like to share your materials with other faculty and have them included in our list of options, please send them with an explanatory message to  [email protected] . Be sure to mention which course and learning outcome(s) they align with when you send a message.

• Assignments and Discussions. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• pencil cup. Authored by : IconfactoryTeam. Provided by : The Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/pencil-cup/628840/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

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Student Resources

Semester Timetable

Your timetable will be available at  timetable.ul.ie  from a little before the start of semester

Sociology Booklet

The Departmental  Undergraduate Booklet  gives you lots of relevant information

Most lecturers will make information available, and ask for submission of assignments through our Learning Management System  sulis.ul.ie .

Plagiarism Policy

The Department has a strict policy about plagiarism. Please take time to read and understand the  Departmental Plagiarism Policy Statement  before you hand in any material for assessment.

Essay/Assignment/Project Declaration

Students are required to include with all essay, assignment and project submissions, a declaration that the work is their own.

• Word document version , to incorporate in your own document
• PDF version  to print out and write on.

Policy on Late Submission of Assignments

Department of Sociology, ULPolicy on Late Submission of Assignments

Students are required to submit assignments by the due deadline set by the Department of Sociology, using the submission procedure specified for that assignment.

What penalties are imposed if this deadline is missed?

Where an extension has not been agreed in advance, or where a student submits an essay after the agreed extensions has expired, the Department will impose a penalty for late submission. For the first day that elapses between the expiration of the deadline and the receipt of the work by the Department, 5 percentage points will be deducted from the student’s mark for that assignment. Assignments received after the 24 hour period has lapsed will attract a mark of zero.

How can students apply for an extension?

The Department may at its discretion and for good cause sanction an extension to individual students. In order to be granted an extension, students will be required to present a medical certificate or other evidence of a compelling reason for late submission. This must be in writing.

In the first instance, students seeking an extension should contact the staff member who is convenor of the relevant module. On submission of the assignment, the written authorisation for an extension should be attached to any such late assignments.

When should students apply for an extension?

Students can apply for an extension a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the deadline by submitting a written request by e-mail for such an extension. This is so that students can be informed in writing prior to the assignment deadline whether or not the extension has been granted.

What about further extensions?

On a discretionary basis, the department may allow further extensions.

Further Study and Careers information

Options for further study and careers for sociologists are broad. This  booklet  discusses some of the possibilities.

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• For Instructors
• About SocImages
• Submitting Guest Posts

SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS

1. SUPER EASY ASSIGNMENT FOR ANY COURSE (written by Lisa Wade)

Spend a few minutes the blog Sociological Images (www.thesocietypages.org/socimages) to get a sense of how authors are choosing and analyzing visuals.  Then, in the course of your daily life, look for an ad, photograph, short video, or graph that would be useful to analyze sociologically.  Bring an image to class with a suggestion for analysis.

2. ASSIGNMENT FOR A LOWER-DIVISION COURSE: ANALYSIS OF A SINGLE AD (written by Gwen Sharp and Lisa Wade)

Throughout this course we have investigated the ways in which sex, gender, race, class, and other social characteristics are used in “lifestyle-based” advertising. Marketers use these categories, and many others, in an effort to link their products with desirable lifestyles, social groups, or social characteristics, such as ideal masculinity or upper-class luxury.

Go to the blog Sociological Images (www.thesocietypages.org/socimages) and select an advertisement that you believe uses sex, race, gender, family roles, nationality, or class (alone or in combination) and discuss how those characteristics are used in the ad.

1. At what social group is the ad aimed? What social groups are represented in the ad? (Hint: They are not always the same.)

2. Does the advertisement reinforce or violate cultural norms? If it violates them, what purpose do you think the violation serves? (Hint: Consider humor, appealing to an often-ignored group, appealing to the idea of rebellion?

3. In addition to the product, what else is the ad selling? (Hint: Consider things like love, marriage, sex, individuality, freedom, sophistication, leisure and other desirables.)

Note to instructors:

This assignment encourages students to do the act of analysis themselves. Doing so will help bypass students’ initial resistance to the idea of “reading too much into” ads by asking them to take seriously the fact that an image must be interpreted.

3. ASSIGNMENT FOR A LOWER-DIVISION COURSE: SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGES AS A JUMPING OFF POINT (written by Lisa Wade)

First, go to the blog Sociological Images (www.thesocietypages.org/socimages) and select an advertisement that you believe uses sex, race, gender, family roles, nationality, or class (alone or in combination).  Consider how those characteristics are used in the ad (the commentary by Sociological Images bloggers may help here).

Second, look for four additional ads in your own environment (in magazines, on tv, on websites, etc) that complement the one you chose at Sociological Images.  Hints: Look for (1) ads that use the same characteristics the same way (e.g., are Black men presented as violent frequently, or was the first ad just a fluke?); (2) ads that use the same characteristics different ways (e.g., when are women presented as sex objects and when are they not?); and (3) ads for the exact same product targeted to a different audience.

Considering all five ads together, what kind of messages about social groups are being sold to us alongside products?

This assignment is useful because it allows students to explore their own social world, instead of simply being told about it.  Students who are suspicious about sociological observations on advertising may find this especially useful.  First, they are required to grapple directly with the advertising to which they are exposed.  They may learn more than thought they would.  Second, even if they actively try to prove that sociological observations are false (which is just fine), they still must analyze ads.  In the end, the assignment is to tell some sociological story about the ads.  Often, I imagine, the stories told by students who really look to counter our more simple observations may be the most interesting stories of all.

4. ASSIGNMENT FOR AN UPPER-DIVISION COURSE (written by Lisa Wade and Gwen Sharp)

The images that we consume as members of U.S. culture send complicated and nuanced messages. Using the blog Sociological Images (www.thesocietypages.org/socimages), prepare a presentation that addresses one of the following:

Option One: While race, class, gender, and other axes of inequality are often discussed in isolation from one another, such inequalities interact. Prepare a presentation that illustrates how stereotypes related to race, ethnicity, national citizenship, immigrant status, sexual orientation, class, religion, or some other social category are not static, but interact with each other

Option Two: While many of us primarily consume media aimed at people like us, companies often target various groups very differently. Prepare a presentation that illustrates how a single product (i.e., Absolut vodka, Altoids, Coors, Trojan condoms, or Nike sportswear) is marketed differently to populations according to their gender, race, ethnicity, national citizenship, immigrant status, sexual orientation, class, religion, or some other characteristic.

Option Three: Oppression functions in part by creating a double bind for those in oppressed groups. To be in a double bind is to be disadvantaged no matter which choice you make, to be damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Prepare a presentation that illustrates the way in which images in our society serve to create double binds for members of disadvantaged groups.

A student who chose Option One might show how stereotypes of masculinity vary across race and class. The student might note that white men are idealized, while black men are often hypersexualized or even dehumanized, and Asian men are portrayed as passive and feminine. Alternatively, a student might choose to look at how portrayals of African Americans changed according to their ascribed class status, such that upper-class blacks appear more “white” (and therefore fit in), whereas poor blacks are made to appear more “black” (and therefore more troublesome or deviant).

A student who chose Option Two might show how Nike sportswear, when advertising in women’s magazines, draws on feminist ideas to suggest that women are just as athletic as men, but when advertising in men’s magazines, reproduces the same notion that men are the true athletes. Or a student might look at how Coors beer produces a hypermasculine and homophobic ad for a men’s magazine, while simultaneously sexualizing the homosocial environment of a gay bar in a magazine aimed at gay men.

A student who chose Option Three might show how images aimed at women suggest that they should be sexy, but women are objectified when they attempt to meet that sexy ideal; that women should be feminine, but are denigrated when they are; should be strong and independent with a good career, but become bitches when they do so; or should be a completely devoted mother, when motherhood becomes the equivalent of “doing nothing.” Another option would be to show the ways in which images appropriate and glamorize stereotypes of urban African Americans, while penalizing black men and women who are believed to embody those stereotypes.

5. THE RHETORIC OF POP CULTURE (An assignment for a lower-division course by Karryn Lintelman. Reproduced by permission from here ).

*What kinds of images are used and why?

*What kinds of text (written or spoken) is used and why?

*Who is the intended audience?

*What is the intended purpose (to educate, alienate, entertain, etc.)?

*How does it use rhetorical appeals?

*How effective is this text in achieving its intended purpose, for its intended audience? *How do you interpret this text as a reader? Does this match with its intended effect?

*How does the layout, mixture of multimodal elements, narrative, use of metaphor, or other stylistic effects work in the text?

*Does the argument of the text include any logical fallacies?

*Is the title important? Why?

Components:

1. Brief description of selected text, short rationale explaining why you chose the text to analyze, and thesis sentence.

2. Two annotated sources (You must include the MLA citation for each source, and a few sentences explaining what each source is and how/why you plan to incorporate each source into your paper).

3. Initial Draft.

4. Revised Draft with Initial Draft and Writer’s Memo attached.

Good places to look for cultural texts:

www.americanrhetoric.com : Database of speech transcripts, often also has the audio or video of the speech being given as well.

www.projects.washingtonpost.com/politicalads/ : Fabulous database of political ads that can be searched by year, by politician, by issues, etc.

www.thesocietypages.org/socimages/ : Postings of various ads and other images that people think have sociological relevance. Many times a link to the larger ad campaign, or the company whom the ad is for, will be provided, and is probably a good thing to look at. If you chose an image from this site, try to find where it originally showed up, and do not simply copy what others have already said about it.

www.wordpress.com and www.blogsofnote.blogspot.com : Here, as well as at other blogging sites, you can search blogs according to topics or keywords, and find blogs that other people think are interesting.

www.artcyclopedia.com : searchable database of art and artists. To find more specifically argumentative art, you might try to search for political art.

Of course, you can also find cultural texts all around you, in magazines, newspapers, fliers, billboards, posters, music, etc, as well as the websites you use everyday!

*Overall, you will have at least three sources to cite—your cultural text, and at least two additional sources that provide more information about or other perspectives on your chosen text—these need to be cited on a ‘Works Cited’ page at the end of your paper, according to MLA style. Refer to The Everyday Writer for formatting.

6. ADVERTISING AND SOCIETY (An assignment for a lower-division course by Alicia Revely. Reproduced by permission from here .)

We know advertisements are geared toward specific demographics (age/race/gender/income/nationality/culture) but what happens when “outside” groups see these ads? I’ll give you examples of ads that have been considered problematic by people outside their intended audiences.

Choose one ad and analyze why you think people might find it offensive, disrespectful, or inappropriate. Could it be changed to be more sensitive? Does the outrage or worry about the ad’s message make sense to you? What less controversial approach could the company have taken to promote its product? Should the company have been able to foresee the impact the ad would have?

Also think of one commercial or ad campaign in your lifetime that you know caused backlash or that you thought was problematic. Describe what you remember of the ad and the criticisms of it. Was it appropriate for your social context or do you agree with its critics?

This Italian detergent commercial raised concerns about racial stereotyping.

So did this set of promotional photos by Spain’s Olympic basketball team.

When we look at advertisements from the past, we can often see problems that may or may not have been evident at that time. If you’d like to address this issue, you can look at either Marlboro ads targeting mothers in the ’50s or this Folgers ad from about the same time.

7. ESSAY QUESTION ON THE PROBLEM OF INFERENCE (Written by Mark Stoddart.  Reproduced by permission.)

One of the challenges of textual analysis of media representations is the ‘problem of inference.’ This means that the researcher analyzes the text without engaging with the media producers or audience members. The blog, Sociological Images , provides a sociologically-informed critique of mass media images. After reviewing several posts and their related comments, discuss whether or how the problem of inference is present in this blog. In other words, provide a critical review of the media analysis and comments on Sociological Images , based on your understanding of theory and research on media and society.

 8. ANALYZING GENDER AND DISCOURSES ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT (Written by Abby Kinchy)

For this question, you will consult an outside source, a blog called  Sociological Images , which offers sociological analysis of advertisements and other aspects of visual culture. The authors of  Sociological Images  have commented frequently on the ways that ideas about masculinity and femininity are a part of historical and contemporary understandings of the environment. Select three of the blog posts listed below (a digital version of this exam is posted in Dropbox, for easy access to the links). Then write an essay that uses the examples in the blog posts (and your own examples, if you wish), in combination with course readings, to answer the following question:  In what ways have patriarchal ideas influenced cultural representations of nature, past and present?

• Little Helpers Links Women to Nature
• Nature as Friend and Enemy
• Why Do Firefighters Take Such Risky Jobs?
• Gender Ideology by Geico
• Gendered Marketing of Fuel Efficient Cars
• Vintage Men’s Magazines and a Pre-Consumerist Time
• The Romanticization of the Old West

Comments 32

Sociological images » what we’ve been up to behind your back (august 2008) — september 1, 2008.

[...] We crafted four sample class assignments using Sociological Images.  One for a lower-division class and three for an upper-division class.  Check them out here. [...]

Sociological Images » WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO BEHIND YOUR BACK (SEPTEMBER 2008) — October 2, 2008

[...] added another class assignment, this one by Alicia Revely.  Read it along with our other class assignments. addthis_url = [...]

Patricia — August 24, 2009

I stumbled upon this site just yesterday and have been thinking of ways to use it in my Intro to Sociology course. Then I found these sample assignments. Thank you so much for putting these resources and this forum out there!

Sociological Images Update (Apr. 2010) » Sociological Images — May 3, 2010

[...] We added a new example of an assignment drawing on Sociological Images that instructors can use.  This one asks students to think critically about the whole project and is, thus, very interesting.  See #7 of our Sample Assignments. [...]

Miet — August 5, 2011

An instructor that I worked with had her students do an image analysis similar to those described above, but she had them do it in the form of a poster presentation instead of a written essay.  The students had to enlarge the image they were analyzing (they were in a computer classroom), paste it on to their poster, and then include the points of their analysis on the poster.  Many of the students chose to include smaller blown-up portions of their image and place them next to the relevant parts of their analysis.  They then presented their poster analysis in class the day that it was due.  The assignment gave them practice both analyzing an image and creating a poster presentation of the sort they would be required to create to participate in the annual undergraduate research symposium.  The students in the class did some really good work with this assignment, and they enjoyed it as well. 

Lamentation Walter — September 27, 2011

Thanks so much, I like p.6 regarding intended audiences. Never thought of it this way but I should have thought...

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